Former Japanese coach shares experience in developing football in Nghe An

On August 29, Vietnam Young Football Talent Investment and Development Company Limited (PVF) had a working session with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nghe An and related departments and branches to discuss the implementation of a plan to support the development of grassroots and professional football in Nghe An.

At the meeting, football experts from PVF shared many experiences with Nghe An to develop football in the long term, especially to bring football into schools.

Former Japanese coach shares experience at the meeting. Photo: Tien Hung

“I see that many parents want their children to pursue a career in sports. However, if they focus on sports, their academic studies will not be stable,” said Philippe Troussier, Technical Director of PVF. “At the age of 6 to 12, it is difficult to confirm that a boy will definitely become a professional player. I believe that a child’s first coach is their parents. Therefore, designing football programs at schools and in the community is very necessary.”

Philippe Troussier is a famous coach in world football with the nickname "white witch". In his coaching career, he has led the teams of Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Qatar... but the most successful time was when he was the captain of the South African team competing in the 1998 World Cup and especially the achievement when leading Japan to the 2002 World Cup. That year, the French coach made a huge splash when he helped Japan pass the group stage of the World Cup for the first time in history. A few months ago, the PVF youth football training center caused a shock when it recruited this former coach to the task of nurturing young talent....

Leaders of the Department of Culture, Sports and Nghe An Newspaper at the meeting. Photo: Tien Hung

“For a boy under 14, football and education are extremely important. To do this, the sectors need to coordinate with each other. It must be developed through schools. In my opinion, the first task that needs to be done is to connect with the education sector,” said the former Japanese coach.

Philippe Troussier believes that, with the largest area in the country and a population of more than 3 million people, Nghe An can be divided into 10 different areas in the school football development program. “At that time, each area can determine where the necessary facilities are. We can also determine how many primary, secondary and high schools each area has. From there, we can develop a large-scale program,” the former French coach shared. “That is the first thing I think needs to be done. Because in my opinion, if we develop a program like this, we can monitor about 10,000 young players.”

Philippe Troussier is nicknamed "the white witch". Photo: Tien Hung

The new technical director of PVF also said that, in terms of developing grassroots football, the locality does not need to think about professional issues yet. At this stage, we should think about playing football for fun for the children.

Mr. Pascal Vaudequin - Deputy Technical Director of PVF said that each country has different difficulties in developing grassroots football. "The first difficulty is identifying talent", said the person who used to work for the Northern Ireland Football Federation. "We cannot only plan for 2 or 3 years of development, we need a long-term plan".

Football experts say that the selection of players in Vietnam is taking place too early. Photo: Archive

After working at PVF, the former French defender said that the process of selecting young players was too early. “It will be very difficult for us to be sure that a 10 or 11 year old player can become a great talent. And especially, at this age, children need to be close to their families and schools to go to school. I believe that the most important time is 14 years old. That is the time to discover and select talents,” he said.

PVF Deputy Technical Director. Photo: Tien Hung

Sharing the same view with Philippe Troussier, the deputy technical director said that at the age of 14, after being selected, the rate of becoming a professional player is only 5%. “In Europe, this number is only 1%. Every boy who plays football wants to become a professional player, but in reality, only very few of them achieve their dream. That is why cultural education is extremely important.”

He also said, “A boy from 6 to 12 years old certainly does not know what he wants to do in the future. They are too young to want to be a doctor, an engineer or a football player. These boys need to play football, need to stay at home. And the first thing is to build infrastructure in the community, in the school.”

PVF General Director, Ms. Thai Thi Quy Phuong. Photo: Tien Hung

At the meeting, Ms. Thai Thi Quy Phuong, General Director of PVF, suggested that the Nghe An education sector build school maps and then classify them. “We have to divide the area map. Which area has good infrastructure, which area lacks playgrounds. Or out of 900 primary and secondary schools, how many have playgrounds, grass or dirt playgrounds... Then we will consider support,” Ms. Phuong said.

Also at the meeting, PVF and representatives of some departments and branches of Nghe An discussed issues such as sponsorship for the Nghe An Newspaper Cup youth football tournament. Sponsorship for injury treatment for athletes of the first team of Song Lam Nghe An, professional support. Evaluation of conditions for upgrading artificial turf fields for SLNA and visits to some schools that are expected to implement football development programs....